Are you nuts? Take the full ride. Someone is literally handing you $300,000 to go to college!
If Fordham is willing to match the Emory numbers to cover room and board, I would probably pick Fordham.
This is now my new advice for all people in this situation. This is the most common sense answer I have seen in a long time… Lol ?.
What coolguy40 says!! Not sure why anyone would pass up a free college education?? It’s what every parent dreams of for their children, unless you have unlimited wealth.
So true! What took me almost 17 paragraphs to write, @coolguy40 summed up in 17 words–ha!
And a much more prestigious college than Fordham!
My son is a sophomore at Oxford Emory; he’s loved it, and for him it’s been a great experience transitioning to college via the smaller campus.
I would definitely take one of the two full ride options. Both are good schools, with Emory ranking much higher in most academic departments. It depends if you want to be in NYC, or if you are open to other great areas too. I’d go with Emory because Atlanta is really cool, the weather is great, and the academics are too.
Regarding Oxford, you’ll likely get to know most if not all of your peers and professors. Then you’ll transition to Emory with them. It might not be ideal, but think of it as another opportunity to move somewhere great in the middle of college with your friends.
@Brycebixon, there is only one full ride at Emory. OP got full tuition at Fordham and if she doesn’t get much in FA as she expects, then Room & Board will run over $100K for four years.
You got the full-ride at Emory!!! That’s insane. I would have killed for that scholarship.
I am not sure what you are afraid of with Emory. You have amazing opportunities at Cornell; however, Emory will offer you similar opportunities. Oxford offers a unique learning opportunity as well to study liberal arts with no bounds. The transition will be weird, but you will transition with all your friends at Oxford. Being in a presitigious scholarship program will open up opportunities in and of itself, just by putting it on your resume. There are negatives to Cornell as well, such as the cold weather and large introductory class sized (100-200 students). I do not believe you will have any of those at Oxford and may actually recieve a better experience with coursework and professors.
I would not consider Fordham. It will not open up the opportunities of Emory and Cornell (and its more expensive than Emory!!). Moreover, there have been historical problems with the school administration and professors in some departments are not good (particularly the Computer Science department, they hire foreign professors that can barely speak English). I also recieved full-tuition at Fordham, and I was considering it for business since it is in New York, but have heard other students complain about the extensive core requirements in college of arts and sciences. My friend’s sister also goes to Fordham, and she is unhappy with the overwhelming party scene on campus. Also, when I visited the campus, I was happy with the greenery and buildings within the fences, but I would really hate to step outside those gates unless I am taking the train to center city.
My advice is take the Emory scholarship and enjoy your unparralleled success. People have chosen the full-ride Emory scholarship over Harvard. The fact is that Emory/Oxford is a great school with a great social life and great weather.
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I completely agree with tchit87 because Emory is essentially giving your family $300,000 to attend, and it offers you similar opportunities to Cornell.